Lora of Two Worlds

The sweetness was interrupted by bird-calls from outside. Leon felt a faint unease, but smiled at Lora: ”Your people are here. Must be urgent. I’ll see you out.” ”So that’s where Lyle went, up a tree, being a bird. You can’t be seen. Get me onto the wall, I’ll check who’s out there first.” Something had happened. They didn’t delay. Leon and Lyle boosted Lora onto the wall. She signaled: I’ll get down myself. Below, Lucy, Keane, and voices she didn’t recognize, calling: ”My lady, careful!” Leon sat back in the wheelchair. ”Quick, take me to my aunt.” On the other side, under the tree, several men waited. Channing and Conan, brothers, two years apart. Their father had been a household guardsman, grown old, retired, passed his place to his sons. Both had passed selection into the covert guard brigade. The brothers stared at the young lady who could climb walls and curse like a soldier. ”My lady, trouble at the outer barracks. Someone’s inciting a mutiny. Lord Gareth has already gone to the camp. Lord Alvin says: stay in the tower chamber. Don’t go anywhere, especially not the forecourt.” Before Lora could ask, two squads of household guards jogged past, one toward the tower chamber, one toward Grandmother’s courtyard. Bad. Alvin wouldn’t station guards at the rear courtyard unless it was serious. Back at the tower chamber, the maids, returned from the Countess’s quarters, clustered around her, panicking: ”My lady, soldiers in the rear courtyard! What do we do?” ”Bar the gate. Anyone who can handle a weapon, arm up. Everyone else, go about your business.” The young lady’s calm steadied them. But they stood in the courtyard, blank. What were they supposed to be doing right now? Lora saw their tension. Lightened the mood: ”Looks like you’ve all been too idle. I’ll need to find you more work.” Lucy ventured: ”My lady, the materials for the toothbrushes and toothpaste you listed. They were delivered this morning... Do we still make them?” ”Didn’t they say three days? That fast, they must think we can’t pay.” Lora pointed to the stone table under the tree: ”Make them. Of course we make them. Bring everything out here. Good light. We’ll work in the courtyard.” Stools, tools, materials. Everyone gathered. The young lady led a craft session. They’d barely started, three knocks at the gate. Shawn vaulted the wall before they could open it. ”What’s happening outside?” Keane, Channing, and Conan gathered around. Covert guards were also household guards, they knew what a mutiny among the commander’s personal troops meant. Lora didn’t rise, but turned to Shawn. He strode over, bowed: ”My lady, don’t fear. The General says: as long as he’s a breath in his body, no one enters the rear courtyard.” He didn’t relay the General’s other order: If things got out of control, take the young lady over the wall to the Grand Princess’s mansion. Seek her protection. Household guards were loyal to the General, mostly because following him meant better pay than regular garrison troops. Remove that advantage, and the guards’ resentment would exceed the garrison’s. The Odenheim household’s troubles were public knowledge. Impossible to hide from the guards. This morning at drill, the Second Brigade had been different. Running, muttering. Too slow. The Third Brigade caught up, and the Second was still blocking the path. ”Hey! You’re in the way!” Askar Nan, now a squad leader, running at the front with Askar Sirui. ”So what? In a hurry? Fly over us.” The speaker, a new recruit, six months in. Hard training, few rewards. And now he’d heard the Odenheim money and farms were gone. Next month’s pay, uncertain. One bellyful of anger, no outlet. Nan, who’d always looked down on central soldiers, flared. Sirui held him back: ”Not worth it. Slow down.” They slowed. Corin, running in the middle of the column, caught up: ”Nan, what’s wrong? Still half-asleep? You’re running slower than walking.” ”The front’s not moving. How do we run?” Corin assessed the road width. Stopped. Made a hand signal: merge two columns into one. He led the Third Brigade past the Second on one side. Second Brigade’s captain, Zhuo Ping, was unhappy. He ran up and blocked Corin: ”Corin, do you know the rules? Don’t throw your weight around just because you have the young lord’s backing.” Corin put his hands on his hips: ”You think I need backing for this? See how far you’ve fallen behind the First Brigade? Don’t block our way back to breakfast.” ”Breakfast? From now on, just the crown’s base pay. That’s all you’ll get, breakfast!” Corin saw his men had passed. He didn’t bother arguing. Ran on. At the finish, the First Brigade was resting. Their captain, Xing Feng, walked over: ”Corin, if you’ve got fire in your belly, swallow it. Everyone’s watching. Seeing what the General does next.” ”What does he do? Walk sideways?” ”You’re new. You may not understand. The General commands thirty thousand Lohenheim troops. We three thousand are part of that. But we’re household guards, we do the important work, fight the dangerous battles, guard the General. Our training is heavier. You came from Yorvik. You saw what happened to Ashford and his thirty men. That’s why we demand higher rewards.” Xing Feng had received word from the other captains last night: they meant to pressure the General. Withhold the regular garrison’s pay, divert it to cover the household guards’ supplement. Twenty-seven thousand supporting three thousand, easy. Plus: Lohenheim had heavy river traffic. Gates, docks, checkpoints, all manned by the Lohenheim garrison. Pork on the table. Touch it, grease on your fingers. The General had always used his own money to fill gaps. That made it hard to demand more. Now, seven farms gone. Where would the guards’ grain come from? Pressure the General now, and their income could rise. If the General refused... They wouldn’t mind a General Claude or General Waleran. Someone would take the deal. ”Corin, I know you serve the young lord. Don’t be stubborn. Even if you don’t lead the charge, stick with the crowd. There’ll be meat.” ”You’re wrong. I’m not the young lord’s man. I’m the young lady’s. And let me tell you, the Odenheims won’t fall. They’ll produce more oil than pork.” Corin looked down his nose: ”Your loyalty, you central people, it’s loyalty to your own greed. Shortsighted. You’d drain the pond to catch the fish.” ”Hey, Corin! You know something we don’t?” Xing Feng watched Corin’s back. He hesitated. He didn’t want to rebel against the General. But... Were the Odenheims really finished?